Capt. Nicholas Andrews II took command of the Navy's Center for Information Warfare Training during a formal ceremony at the National Naval Aviation Museum on Thursday.

Andrews, who previously served as the information warfare commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, will oversee the Corry Station-based center, which includes satellite training schools around the U.S. and in Japan.

Approximately 22,000 students from all branches of the U.S. military graduated from the center's various schools in 2017, according to Navy statistics. The schools train students in cryptology, signals interception, electronic warfare, linguistics and other surveillance methods.

"These are rapidly evolving fields and the demand (for graduates of the schools) is critical," said Andrews, who added it isn't always easy to understand exactly what graduates of the schools do in the military.

"A lot of what we do is classified. It is easy to see a plane flying and know what it is doing, it is a lot harder to explain what is happening behind a computer screen," he said.

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Outgoing Center for Information Warfare Training Commanding Officer Capt. Bill Litz speaks during the Change of Command ceremony at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola on Thursday, May 24, 2018.(Photo: Gregg Pachkowski/gregg@pnj.com)

From his recent experience as part of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, Andrews said he knows how important information warfare officers are to the overall mission.

"I've watched as traditional components of Navy air and sea power made decisions based on our information," he said.

Thursday's ceremony included the official retirement of Capt. Bill Lintz, who had served as commander of the Center for Information Warfare Training since May 2016.

Lintz was surprised by his 17-year-old daughter, Celeste, who sang the national anthem a capella for the crowd gathered inside the museum atrium. Lintz said the end of his 26-year Navy career came too fast.

"It feels like just yesterday I was here accepting this command," he said.